Acheton
From IFWiki
| Acheton | |
|---|---|
| Game | |
| Main links | |
| Published | 1978 |
| Credits | |
| Authors | David Seal, Jonathan Thackray, Jonathan Partington |
| Publisher | Topologika |
| Reception | |
| IFDB rating | 3.5 out of 5 (6 ratings) |
| Gameplay | |
| Interaction style |  Parser |
| Literary genre |  Adventure |
| Location |  Underground |
| Language | English |
| Cruelty scale | Cruel |
| Accessibility | Colour: none. Graphics: none. Sound: none. |
| Technical details | |
| Authoring system | T/SAL |
| Formats | Phoenix, Z-code |
| Systems | Atari, BBC, Electron, BBC Master, Nimbus, PC, Sinclair, Amstrad CPC |
| License | Former commercial |
| Browse the games database • Edit this page | |
How it begins
You are standing on a good road leading northward to a farmhouse and westward to a forest. Inside the building, you can easily find some keys, a shiny brass lamp, an empty bottle – and an aerosol can. If you explore the surrounding area, you will discover a locked steel grate set in a depression, but heading downwards might not lead to the expected result.
Notable features
- The game is heavily influenced by Adventure, including many similar settings and puzzles. It is, however, exceptionally cruel, with many ways to die without warning.
Trivia and Comments
- Acheton is one of about fifteen classic adventure games written in the 1980s on the Phoenix IBM mainframe computer at Cambridge University.
- The title "Acheton" is a confection of "Acheron" (the river that dead used to cross in order to get to Hades) and "Achates" (minor character in Virgil's "Aeneid").
Versions
Original
Date: 1978
- Creation date: 1978.
BBC version
Date: 1984
- 1984.
Sinclair version
Date: 1988
- 1988.
1.005
Date: 1999
- Inform Z-machine port by Graham Nelson and Adam Atkinson.
Links
General info
- Acheton (archived) - at Baf's Guide.
- Acheton - at IFDB.
Reviews
- Review by Matthew Russotto - at rec.games.int-fiction.
- Contemporary review of the 1988 Sinclair edition by Mike Gerrard in Your Sinclair magazine.
Date: 1978
Date: 1984
Date: 1988
Date: 1999